Following months of criticism over a rigged primary system in 2024 to benefit President Biden, reports now indicate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is set to announce an independent run for president in a matter of days.
According to a report from Mediaite, the announcement could come as soon as Oct. 9:
2024 presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. plans to announce he will run as an independent on October 9 in Pennsylvania, Mediaite has learned.
Kennedy’s campaign machine is now planning “attack ads” against the Democratic National Committee in order to “pave the way” for his announcement in Philadelphia about running as an independent, according to a text reviewed by Mediaite.
“Bobby feels that the DNC is changing the rules to exclude his candidacy so an independent run is the only way to go,” a Kennedy campaign insider told Mediaite.
While RFK Jr. has recently earned a lot of praise from the right for his healthy skepticism of the COVID-19 vaccine and stance on big tech censorship, Democrats are very concerned his independent run could end up burying Joe Bide next year.
Part of RFK Jr.’s upcoming campaign launch is about vengeance against the Democratic National Committee, Vanity Fair reports:
In the run-up to the kickoff, his campaign is said to be planning “attack ads” targeted at the Democratic National Committee, which “Bobby feels” is “changing the rules to exclude his candidacy so an independent run is the only way to go,” a campaign insider told the outlet.
The idea of RFK Jr. running as an independent in the 2024 election is legitimately terrifying for a number of reasons, not the least of which being the fact that he could take votes away from Joe Biden and help Donald Trump—who incited a deadly insurrection the last time he lost—get reelected.
As the piece also mentions above, Democrats are collectively freaking out that an RFK Jr. candidacy could help put Donald Trump in the White House again. After Hillary Clinton’s loss in 2016, many Democrats took their anger out on Jill Stein, the Green Party candidate who some claimed cost Hillary the race.
Would RFK Jr. have a similar effect in 2024 giving voters who might otherwise be inclined to vote for Joe Biden an option to vote for a member of the Democratic Party’s most famous political dynasty? Given Biden’s failing poll numbers and a general feeling, even among Democrats, that he’s in over his head, the fear is probably warranted.
While he settled on running under the independent banner, reports from last week indicated Kennedy was also considering the Libertarian Party label:
Last week, The New York Times ran a story considering the prospect of Kennedy running as a candidate for the Libertarian Party, whose chair he met with in July. The outlet noted that “in a general election, Democrats worry that a third-party run by Mr. Kennedy could draw votes away from Mr. Biden and help elect former President Donald J. Trump.” Matt Bennett, a cofounder of Third Way, a centrist Democratic group, told the Times. “It would be very bad” if Kennedy ran as a Libertarian, adding: “We’ve been very clear that third parties in close elections can be very dangerous and would almost certainly hurt the president.”
Kennedy has the fame and notoriety to self-fund and self-propel a campaign well into the fall of next year. His prolific TV interviews and podcast appearances have also helped introduce him to a younger generation of voters through an unfiltered lens. Democrats loathe freedom of speech and it shows in their policies. They would prefer that someone like Kennedy, with views outside the mainstream, continue to be silenced.
If his name is on the ballot in some close contests, it’s very possible it might help sway the outcome one way or another.
Inevitably, this will end in lawsuits as the DNC will try to prevent RFK Jr. from appearing on the ballot in states like Wisconsin, Michigan, Arizona, or Georgia.
